seraphiafandomcom-20200214-history
The Gearborn Commonwealth
The Commonwealth regulates steam craft, promising to protect patents and motivate innovation by institutionalizing their efforts, restricting the manufacture and proliferation of weaponry, and opening education on the matter to the public—for free, if it could be managed. However, the road to hell was paved with good intentions. A century passed since its founding. The wealthy trade barons of Conglomerate Equestria now take up many of its directorship seats and have become infamous for their inefficiency at dealing with the very issues the organization was conceived to address. Principle The five Earth Pony forefathers of the Steam Age, led by renowned inventor and artist, Leonardo Da Hoovsi, envisioned a world where everyone had access to the same luxuries magic provided for the magi. Prior to its founding, a social divide split those with and without magic. Earth Ponies felt oppressed into subservience by royalty to serve exclusively as soldiers or farmers—quickly dismissed from other fields of labor. The advent of steam craft promised to change that. But, none of them were royalty. Without their blessing, it'd be impossible to even so much as request to the Princesses that the movement be institutionalized. They feared steam craft would be buried long before it gained momentum. So they created the commonwealth; a board of bright minded volunteers to: * Introduce and police a patent system * Deter monopolistic market practices * Protect the development of new ideas from the resisting nobility * Establish a standard for ethical practices * Build on sympathetic ties in the nobility to help institutionalize their efforts * Restrict the manufacture and proliferation of weapons * Make education on the matter as accessible as possible—even free, if it could be managed * Enforce its laws through monetary penalty and due process, rather than violence * And open its directorship to anyone with the talent or passion for the sciences The Commonwealth would see a great deal of success in its initial years. Members & Structure The Commonwealth's directorship is open to anyone with the talent or passion for the sciences, but over time, its directorship has become saturated by those with power and affluence. It is a fear among the sympathetic royalty that the group is destined to fizzle out into another philanthropist society. However, the bylaws prevent any attempt to change the laws themselves. This permits the power hungry among them very little breathing space—to the delight of its senior members. The organization has no set structure otherwise and each member operates independently. However, any director can call a summit and, given a vote, will be obliged to contribute toward any agreed-upon collective goals. Apprenticeship The group's bylaws permit any of its members to take on a personal apprentice, whose education is paid for by the commonwealth itself. Cogs Shortly after the Commonwealth were institutionalized, members of its directorship who had "bought out" minor houses in the nobility used their newfound power to fund a task force to police their interests. This act was the first time in the Commonwealth's history that one of Da Hoofsi's bylaws was overruled. Called the "Cogs," its legions were members of the Royal Guard, making them a frighteningly effective task force for such a "peaceful" organization. And though they pledge themselves to the Commonwealth, only a fool would believe they'd betray their own houses if they were indicted for any reason. Trivia * It is common for the populace to mock the Gearborn. Some have taken to calling them "the League of Extraordinary Gentlecolts." * Spark Rattle, founder of Spark Industries, was apprenticed to a well respected director of the Commonwealth: Right Turner. Spark was a prodigy, but his dabbling in magitech (a subject frowned upon by the Commonwealth, due to their anti-magic leanings) eventually forced him to leave them in pursuit of his own fortune. Gearborn, The Gearborn, The